Packing



PACKING Filed DeC.

V. W. PETERSON ET AL Jam 241 W5@ @anni .ha 24, 195o oFFicE PACKING victor vv. recel-smania out J. Maha., chicago.

hll., assignors to Ha i i i- Corporation, a corporation of ola duplication December l2, i945, Serial No. @Mdm 2 Malmo. (U1. 288-5) This invention relates to packing for pistons, rods, shafts and the like, and among other objects aims to provide an improved packing particularly designed to seal against leakage under high gas or other pressures.

The nature of the invention may be readily understood by reference to one illustrative construction embodying the invention and shown in l the accompanying drawing.

scoring. fit 'sub-zero temperatures inability to z,niaintain the pressure has attended use of packing of this type for reasons not heretofore under-` stood. Tests to discover the cause of faulty operation at low temperatures have demonstrated that the lip of the resilient sealing element of the packing 'was out of contact with the surface to be sealed, and in fact `was in aV state of equilibriurn (with pressure on both faces) in which condition it was incapable of performing its intended sealing function. This Was due to a plurality of causes including the edect of low temperature on the packing, extrusion, and crowding or compression of the packing under the pressure against it, and inability to center the packing in apparatus vvhose ensions departed .slightly from nominal ensions.

The illustrative paclring is dosed to cui. tain an emcient seal at all temperatures including aulo-aero temperatures without causing scoring and with a minimum of friction. It is here emrhodied in a packing for pistons and piston rods in euuilibrators for artillery, since this is particularly illustrative of apparatus subjected for long 4periods to lovv temperatures vand wherein high gas pressuresv must be maintained. The illustrative packing comprises an annular sealing element it carried on an annular metal bearing' or guiding element il. iin this case the sealing element is provided with outer and inner sealing lips if and it since a seal must be eected against two surfaces. rihe guiding element ii isr accordingly provided with outer and inner bearings it and it for the `same surfaces.

The packing is here shown in al stumng box it for a piston rod .or plunger il, but it will be understood that the same packing (except for uit ai..

changes in dimensions) could be employed around a piston to eect seals against the outer cylinder surface and the inner` piston surface.

The sealing element it is 'advantageously a synthetic rubber of such composition that it will retain its resilience' at sub-zero temperatures. A suitable composition of this character is one employed in aircraft packings wherein low temperatures are encountered for long periods. The element is bonded (as by vulcanizing) to a metal ring which in this case is of ,T-section to provide a web it extending beyond the ends of the lips if and it to serve, if necessary, as a lspacer to prevent compressing of the packing endwise against any other element In this ease, since inner and outer sealing lips are required, web t9 is centrally located with respect thereto and the latter are provided with separate integral bases 2i and if bonded to the ring it .and to opposite sides of web i t.

The bases 2i and di are designed so as to be spaced as at 23 from the surfaces it andV fili to be sealed, a distance sucient to prevent contact of the base with such surface under the extruding or crowding of the material of the sealing element under the pressure to which lt is subjected.

The outer surface it of the'lips if and it diverges is in place only the lips contact with the surfaces dit and 2t, that is, the portion of the sealing element lying beyond (outside plane ti!) the base ofthe sealing element. In other words, as illustrated in Fig. 2, no part of the base iii or if contacts withfthe surface to be sealed. The base cannot, therefore, be crowded or extruded into contact with the surface to be sealed. Therefore there is no tendency to crowd or deflect the lips I2 or i3 away from the surface to be sealed and thus place them in a state o f balance (with pressure on both sides of the lips) where they can perform nofeffective sealing function. Since only the lips can contact the aforesaid surfaces, the pressure confined in the cylinder will effectively press them against said surfaces to maintain an efiicient seal.

The tip it of the lips preferably faces toward the high pressure, and therefore performs the major sealing function. It is therefore made relativelyblunt and thick so as not to be easily deflected away from the surface, and thereby to minimize the thickness of the oil lm adhering to the surface.

Often a plurality of sealing rings are used, particularly to guard against accidental failure of one ring, but the leadingvring, that is the one next the pressure, carries substantially all the burden of sealing.

The guiding or bearing element Il is advantageously made separable from the sealing ring to permit it to be finished exactly to size in the case of an oversized cylinder, rod, etc. If the bearing elements were integral with the sealing elements, it is not possible to machine the bearing surface to exact size. While an effort is made in manufacture to finish the cylinders, rods, etc., to an exact or nominal size, some tolerance must be permitted, but until assembly of the packing with the cylinder, exact dimensions are not known. In the present separable construction, the bearings it and l5 of a bearing element may be machined on the job to t the exact cylinder or rod dimensions, and then assembled with a sealing element. Also either bearing or sealing element may be replaced in the eld without replacing the other. With the bearing element machined to proper size, the sealing element. is centered in the packing with the sealing lips bearing equally around the entire circumference. The sealing element is not obliged to serve also as a bearing element (for which it is not suited) as is the case Where the bearing element is undersize. The two elements are centered on each other preferably by rabbeting. In this case the ring I8 carries a rib 3| adapted to set into a mating groove 32- on the bearing element. The two elements are separably connected by screws 33.

The illustrative packing whose details may be considerably varied, comprises three sealing elements 34, 35 and 36, the first of which performs the major sealing function and the other two confine lubricating oil or grease between them in the space 3l to lubricate the surfaces. The lubricant is maintained under some compression by spring 38. The lips of the sealing elements prevent escape of lubricant, and in the case of failure of the first sealing element 3l, also perform a sealing function.

Obviously the invention is not limited to the details oi the illustrative apparatus since these may be variously modified. Moreover, it is not indispensable that all features of the invention be used conjointly since various features may be used to advantage in different combinations and sub-combinations.

Having described our inventionwe claim-z 1. A packing of the character described comprising in combination an annular sealing element of synthetic rubber or the like adapted to remain resilient at sub-zero temperatures, said vfrom said base to such diameter that the lip must be compressed to flt the surface to be sealed,

,saidlip diverging at such angle that the region of contact with said surface lies wholly outside side base, a rigid supporting ring to which said base is bonded, a bearing element having a bearing surface machined to have a bearing fit with said surface, means for centering said bearing ring on said sealing ring, and means including an inter-fitting rib and groove for separably connecting said bearing ring and sealing ring together.

2. A packing for sealing against high pressures comprising in combination an annular sealing element of resilient synthetic rubber or the like capable of remaining resilient at sub-zero'temperatures, said element having outer and inner sealing lips adapted respectively to contact with outer and inner surface to be sealed, said lips having a substantially thick integral base of such diameter that under compression of the fluid sealed, it remains spaced from the surfaces to be sealed, said lips diverging therefrom so that the region of contact with said surfaces lies wholly outside said base, a rigid annular supporting ring of T-section to which said base is bonded, a bearing ring having outer and inner bearing surfaces machined to have a bearing fit with said surfaces, and means including an inter-fitting rib and groove for separably connecting` said bearing ring with said supporting ring and for centering the latter on said bearing ring.

VICTOR W. PETERSON.' GTTO J. MAHA.

REFERENCES errno The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 16,978 Joyce May 29, 1928 1,779,938 Joyce Oct. 28, 1930 2,214,261 Roth Sept. 10, 1940 2,309,446 Ekkebus Jan. 26, 1943 2,417,828 Joy Mar. 29, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 560,515 Great Britain of 1944- 

